Style Debate: The Ugly Sweater Party

December 11, 2012 By Joe| Heads up: Buying via our links may result in us getting a commission. Here's why.

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The case AGAINST ugly sweater parties: Because the namesake required attire will almost certainly be itchy, bulky, and yes, hideous. Of course, 100% participation by all guests will never be reached. At least one, two, or HALF of the invitees will show up wearing something perfectly normal, with an excuse ready to go. And then it’s awkward. Meanwhile, there’s the women. Have we not all seen otherwise gorgeous women reduced to Great-Aunt Delores replicas during these things? Isn’t life too short to shroud these beacons of feminine beauty in bedazzled reindeer vests and holly emblazoned mock-turtlenecks? On any other night these babes drip with class & sex. Now they’re seeping Metamucil. For the love of all things good and pure, kill the ugly sweater party. DO IT FOR THE WOMEN.

The case FOR ugly sweater parties: Whoa. If the way you look is so carefully cultivated on a daily basis that you can’t bring yourself to wear something ugly for a few hours, then you might actually need to attend an ugly sweater party. Otherwise, you’re holding onto this dressing-well-thing a little too tight. They’re undeniably hilarious, cheap to pull off (thanks thrift stores), and any reason to throw a party is almost always a good one. So have another glass of eggnog, fire up the ol’ musical necktie, and enjoy yourself.

Your turn guys. Do Ugly Sweater parties have to go? Leave your take in the comments. Top Photo:Dennis Crowley

Comments

I don’t really have an opinion either way on this, but I found it funny that your argument against the ugly sweater party was partially based on women dressing poorly, but the top photo you chose shows two men wearing ugly sweaters and a very attractive woman wearing a decidedly non-ugly non-sweater. I wouldn’t mind attending that party.

My thoughts…fun when they started…now we get invited to about 4 per year, so it’s getting a little old. My suggestion, decline the invites to all ugly sweater parties, then show up at a non-ugly sweater holiday party with the most hideous Christmas sweater you can find. It’s a nice conversation piece that sets you apart from everyone else in the room.

Totally off topic here, but I’m always surprised when men say a woman is “very attractive” based upon a partial photo. All we can see is a little bit of her face. She could have a mouth full of rotting teeth and thunder thighs. Not likely, but possible. I’m just sayin’.

If you click on the source link at the bottom of the article, you can see the full photo. Obviously beauty is subjective and there’s no clarification on the teeth deal, but I would say she’s very attractive.

As someone in my mid-20s, theme parties in general seem to be getting out of control and over-played. Every party in college had a theme (as if that was the only party people would be going to), but now even as young professionals most of my friends have latched onto themes and refuse to let go. I think a lot of it has to do with identity — at a theme party, nobody has to be unique. Nobody has to stand alone on their own merits, their own style, or their own personality. Instead, everyone blends together and adopts one common identity and style. To me, this suggests we are becoming more afraid of our own unique identities and would rather blend in. But, as Josh said, maybe this evens the playing field for those with varying levels of confidence. The consequence is, however, that no one can truly be confident if every social gathering forces them to be exactly like everyone else.

I disagree. Themes encourage sartorial creativity. It’s fun to dress in a way that usually isn’t acceptable. Also, the costumes create easy, lighthearted conversation topics for guests who are just acquaintances or meeting for the first time.

Obviously I’m very pro-theme party. I have several friends who are anti-theme party like you. I do think you took yourself a little too seriously in your criticism of the theme party. You feel like a conformist for going along with the theme. I don’t feel like a conformist because I always try to find a really clever interpretation of the theme. Like most things in life, your experience is impacted by your approach and your attitude.

Friendly feedback on the impression I got of you based on your post: you come off as particularly concerned about demonstrating your own uniqueness/ individual character. In my experience, if you’re trying that hard to show it off, you may be in danger of seeming like a show off who tries too hard to be unique for the sake of being unique. I’m not trying to pick a fight. Just offering food for thought.

I do agree that, while still enjoyable, the novelty of the “ugly sweater” theme is gone by now.

Appreciate the insights and conversation. For me, much more of a macro issue of identity, personality and freedom of expression. As an individual, I actually don’t try to be unique. I am who I am. But I do believe there are underlying issues, in American culture specifically, about identity. Just look at the hyper-sexualization of Halloween as one example. I don’t think theme parties are bad — they can definitely be fun when the theme is fresh and carried out with appropriate food, drinks, music, etc. There’s also nothing wrong with conformity. Conformity provides order, structure and function. But, on a macro-sociological level and even from a historical context, costumes (masquerades) served the purposes of freeing the individual from their own identity while typically providing social commentary. A theme party allows everyone to comfortable make social commentary through the expression of their costume without having to take the sole responsibility for that particular expression. Nothing wrong with taking a costume party at face value and having fun for the sake of having fun. But I do encourage you to ponder the roots of our social behavior.

I agree with the concept of a themed holiday party, but I disagree with the ugly sweater theme. It’s overdone. Instead, try something more challenging or merge some of the common themes: 80’s + Christmas, must only wear red and green (and baby/superman blue if your chosen), etc.

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